Joseph limokcellb



J. LIMONCELLE.

KNOCKDOWN BANANA CRA'.

APPLICATloN FILED m4, mw.

Paented May 27,. 19M

LSQQQQQQ wif@ JOSEPH LIMONCELLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLEIOIS.

KNOCKDOWN. BANANA-CRATE.

Speciication of Letters Patent;

Patented May 27, 1919.

Application led December 4, 1917. Serial No. 205,284.

To 4all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH LIMONCELLE, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knockdown Banana- Crates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. l

This invention relates to improvements in banana crates, and has for its particular object t0 provide a knockdown crate of this character which is simple, cheap,- durable and easily assembled and knocked down, and which, when knocked down, will occupy a very small volume of space, thus rendering shipment of empty knocked down crates very cheap as compared to the present bulky crates which are incapable of being knocked down.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating a suitable embodiment of the invention:

Figure -l-f isa perspective view of a banana crate in its assembled condition ready for shipment with contents.

Fi L 2 is a view similar to Fig. -1- showing the crate partially lmocked down.

In accordance with my. invention the banana crate is made of polygonal form preferably hexagonal or octagonal, the octagon'al form being preferred for reasons which are hereinafter fully explained.

The outer peripheral wall of the crate consists of a number of parts equaling the number of sides of the polygon. In the present instance it consists of eight parts or peripheral wall portions 1. Each of these consists either of a single or of a plurality of strips of wood or other suitable material to which cleats 2 and 3 are secured, the cleats 2 being preferably secured to the lower edges of the wall portions and flush with the lower edges thereof. The upper cleats 3 are secured so' that their upperedges are disposed slightly below and parallel with the upper edges of the strips of wood constituting the wall members. The said cleats 2 and 3 are of a length equal to thewidth of the wall portions to which they are secured, and are provided with beveled ends, the angle of bevel being such that when said peripheral wall is closed the joints formed by the abutment of the ends of adjacent cleats 2 and gether by means of bands 4 of ductile wire secured to the outer faces of the wall sections by means of staples or other suitable means. The uppermost and lowermost of the bands 4 are preferably secured to the outer faces of the wall sections in planes intersecting the cleats 2 substantiallv midway between their upper and lower edges. Any desired number of intermediate bands 4 may be used. Obviously the said bands 4 will easily bend to formK yielding hinge joints between the wall sections and the ends of said bands 4 are adapted to be twisted about each other when thev peripheral walll has been completed to hold the sametirmlyin shape.

The top and bottom walls of the crate are each composed of a numberl of strips of wood or other suitable material equaling half the number of sides of the polygon, that is to say, the crate in the instance illustrated being octagonal, each of the top and bottom walls will be composed of four strips or plates 5 and 6. Each of the plates 5 is substantially eoual in width to one of the wall sections and is mounted to extend diametrically of the polygon and to abut at opposite ends against opposed inner faces of opposed wall sections, and will rest upon the cleats secured to said sections. 'Ihe plates 5 of the bottom wall will rest upon those faces of the cleats which are disposed within the polygonal peripheral wall, while the plates 5 of the top wall of the crate will rest upon the outer faces yof the cleats. After the rst of the plates 5 has been mounted to rest upon the bottom cleats another of said plates is inserted to lie transversely of the first-named, and thereupon the plates 6 are successively inserted to extend at an angle of forty-tivedegrees to thev plates 5 and ninety degrees to each other. In this way a substantially solid wall is provided for each end of the crate.

rI`he plates 6 for the top wall are rovided at their ends with cross-pieces 7, t supper Vso lll@

Iaces of Which are adapted to become flush with the upper edges of the Wall sections contiguous thereto.

Secured at one end to each of the uppermost and lowermost bands 4 of the crate, preferably at apoint `midway between the side edges of one Wall section, are pieces 8 of Wire of a length greater than the diameter of the crate, and which are adapted to extend diametrically of the same transversely to each other. The free ends of these pieces of Wire are adapted to be inserted underneath and to be bent over the upper and lowermost bands 4 at points diametrically opposite those at which said 'Wires are attached at the iirst-named end, and the last-named free end portions are then bent over upon and twisted about the body portions thereof. Said cross Wires thus extend over the plates 6 of the top Wall and the cleats 7 secured thereto and hold the same in place. The lower similar lwires serve only to strengthen the crate as the bunch of bananas Within the latter rests upon the plates 6 and thus hold the same and the plates 5 in place. One of the upper strips 8 of Wire may have a handle 9 secured theretoif desired.

'In assembling the crate the peripheral Wall is rst formed to the polygonal shape and the ends of the loWermost 'band 4 twisted about each other to ei'ect closure. The upper end portion of the ycrate may then be expanded so as to provide a V-shaped slot in the peripheral Wall extending from the top to the bottom of the cratev through which the hand and Wrist may be inserted for positioning the plates 5 and 6 upon the bottom cleats. Afterthis has been accomplished the free end portions of the remaining bands 4 are twisted about each other, thus closing the said V-shaped recesses or slot whereupon the empty crate is ready to receive the bunch of bananas. The latter is then inserted and thereupon theplates 5 and 6 constituting the upper Wall of the crate are successively mounted in position and thereupon the cross-Wires 8 at both ends of the' crate are secured in place as previously described. The crate is now finished and loaded ready for shipment and constitutes a very strong durable structure.

At its destination the crate is knocked down by reversing the order of the operations aforesaid and the bunch of bananas removed. As the plates 5 and 6 are all of equal area they can be tied in a little bundle separately from the peripheral Wall which is flattened out, and which may be Wrapped in the reverse direction and tied about the stack of top and bottom plates. Where a large number of crates is to be reshipped to the point of origin it is preferable to merely Hatten out the peripheral walls and stack them and tie them substantially in a bale placement.

While I yhave illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention in the accompanying drawings it Will be obvious, of course, that such embodiment may be changed and varied in details offconstruction Within the bounds of mechanical skill Without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim as myinv'ention:

1. A knock-down polygonal crate having an articulate peripheral Wall composed of a plurality of substantially equally spaced slats of equal Width adapted to be turned relatively to each other to lie in a common plane, cleats mounted upon the end portions of the inner faces of the slats and having beveled abutting lfaces adapted to maintain the slats disposed at substantially equal angles relatively to each other, manually operable means for removably coupling the end slats of the series and coacting with said cleats to form and maintain the peripheral Wall, the same being adapted to be completed to form a container open at both ends and adapted to receive end closures. and closures for the ends of the peripheral Wall `each comprising a number of separate plates substantially equal in length 'to the inner diameter of the crate and of the same Width, as said slats and of one-half the number' of said slats, said plates angularly disposed to and overlapping each other and diametrically spannin the ends .of the peripheral Wall for holding the slats of the latter in proper relative position independently of the cleats and being themselves held by said slats against relative rotation and displacement.

2. A knock-down polygonal crate having an articulate peripheral Wall composed of a plurality of substantially equally spaced slats of equal Width adapted to be turned relatively to each other to lie in a common plane, `cleats mounted upon the end' portions of the inner faces of' the slats and having beveled abutting faces adapted to maintain the slats disposed at substantially equal angles relatively to each other, manually4 operable means for removabl coupling the end slats of the series and coa'cting with said cleats to form and maintain the peripheral wall, the same being y adapted to be completed to form a container open at both ends and adapted to receive end closures, and closures for the ends of the peripheral Wall each comprising a number of separate plates substantially equal in length to the inner diameter of the crate and of the same Width as said slats and of onehalf the number of said slats, said plates angularly disposed to and overlapping each other and diametrically spanning the' ends of the peripheral Wall for holding the slats of the latter in proper relative position independently of the cleats and being themselves held by' said slats against relative rotation and displacement, the closure plates for one end of the crate supported upon and held by the inner faces ofthe cleats at one end of the peripheral wall and adapted to be held in place by the crate contents.

3. A knock-down polygonal crate having an articulate peripheral Wall composed of a plurality of substantially equally spaced slats of equal width adapted to be turned relatively to eachother to lie in a common plane, cleats mounted upon the end portions of the inner faces of the slats and having beveled abutting faces adapted to maintain the slats disposed at substantially equal angles relatively to each other, manually operable means for removably coupling the end slatsy of the series and coacting with said cleats to form and maintain the peripheral wall, the same being adapted to be completed to form a container open at both ends and adapted to receive end closures, and closures for the ends of the peripheral wall each comprising a' number of separate plates substantially equal in length to the inner diameter of the crate and of the same width as said slats and of one-half the number of said slats, said plates angularly disposed to and overlapping each other and diametrically spanning the ends of the peripheral wall for holding the slats of the latter in propel` relative position independently of the cleats and being themselves held by -said slats against relative rotation and displacement, the other closure plates supported upon the outer faces of the other cleats, and manually operable means for removably securing the last-named plates.

4. A crate comprising a polygonal peripheral wall composed of substantially equal sections, supports for closures for the o en ends of the latter disposed on the inner we of the same at the end portions thereof, and closures for said ends each comprising a number of separate rectangular plates equal to one-half the number ofsides of the polygon and of .substantially the same width as the latter, the length of said plates equal to the inner diameter of the peripheral wall and adapted to spanthe same so that the ends thereof abut against opposed wall sections, said plates adapted to be angularly disposed to and overlap each other for holding the sections of the peripheral wall in proper relative position and to be themselves held against relative displacement by said sections.

JOSEPH LMONCELLE.' 

